Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      The little-known company disrupting Eskom’s monopoly

      16 June 2025

      Public money, private plans: MPs demand Post Office transparency

      13 June 2025

      Coal to cash: South Africa gets major boost for energy shift

      13 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • World

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025

      Trump tariffs to dim 2025 smartphone shipments

      4 June 2025

      Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

      4 June 2025

      Apple slams EU rules as ‘flawed and costly’ in major legal pushback

      2 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Sections » ‘A disaster’: Labour plan to nationalise UK broadband slammed

    ‘A disaster’: Labour plan to nationalise UK broadband slammed

    By Gavin Cordon17 November 2019
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK’s left-wing Labour party

    Jeremy Corbyn sent shockwaves through London’s financial district as he unveiled plans to nationalise the UK’s broadband network, providing free Internet access for every home in the country.

    Labour costed the scheme at £20-billion but BT — which would be partly taken back into public ownership — warned the true figure would be closer to £100-billion.

    The telecommunications giant saw its share price fall 4% on the news, although it later recovered, still wiping more than £200-million off the value of the company.

    The announcement represented the most radical move so far by any of the parties in the general election race

    Boris Johnson said it was a “crazed communist scheme” as the Tories warned it would fall foul of European state aid rules if Labour succeeded in keeping Britain in the EU.

    However, Corbyn insisted that by providing “gold standard” full-fibre broadband to the entire country, a Labour government would be putting Britain “at the cutting edge of social and economic change”.

    “Fast and free broadband for all will fire up our economy, deliver a massive boost to productivity and bring half a million people back into the workforce,” he said in a campaign speech in Lancaster.

    “It will help our environment and tackle the climate emergency by reducing the need to commute. And it will make our country fairer, more equal and more democratic.”

    Public ownership

    The announcement represented the most radical move so far by any of the parties in the general election race.

    The move would bring parts of BT into public ownership, including Openreach, which runs the UK’s broadband network.

    Labour said it would be paid for through the party’s Green Transformation fund and taxing corporations such as Amazon, Facebook and Google — bringing a monthly saving of £30.30 to the average person.

    The party said there would be a one-off capital cost to roll out the full-fibre network of £15.3-billion, in addition to the government’s existing and not-yet-spent £5-billion commitment.

    Boris Johnson has labelled Labour’s plan a ‘crazed communist scheme’

    A YouGov snap poll of 3 653 adults found that 62% supported the policy of providing free broadband, while 22% were opposed.

    When it came to the way in which Labour said they will pay for the plan, 32% said they were supportive of it, while 31% were opposed. Both groups are marginally outnumbered by the 37% who answered “don’t know”.

    Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the costing was based on the government’s own review of the UK’s digital infrastructure.

    But BT CEO Philip Jansen said the party had dramatically underestimated the price of re-nationalisation, saying it would be closer to £100-billion.

    Re-nationalisation would immediately halt the investment being driven not just by BT but the growing number of new and innovative companies…

    He said shareholders were already nursing “massive losses” — with a heavy fall in the share price over the past two years — and that further losses would only damage confidence in the sector.

    “The reason for that is they recognise we’re going to invest very, very heavily in a competitive market and there’s a lot of risk in that investment,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

    “And change like the current idea of nationalising part of BT, or the infrastructure bill or giving it away for free, takes away that competitive nature.”

    Julian David, CEO of technology trade association techUK, said Labour’s plans would be “a disaster” for the sector.

    Halt investment

    “Re-nationalisation would immediately halt the investment being driven not just by BT but the growing number of new and innovative companies that compete with BT,” he said.

    TalkTalk’s CEO Tristia Harrison said the sale of its full fibre broadband business, FibreNation, has been put on hold following the announcement.

    Richard Hooper, chairman of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, said: “Telecoms businesses in the private sector, many of whom are sponsors of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, are investing at scale to make digital connectivity a reality for communities and businesses across the UK, and to unleash the opportunities that the fastest fibre broadband and 5G will provide for everybody.

    “Labour’s national monopoly model would wipe out, at a single blow, the existing and future investment plans, based on vigorous competition, reverse economic growth through years of delay and uncertainty, and cost tens of billions of pounds to the UK’s digital economy.”



    Boris Johnson BT Jeremy Corbyn top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleBill Gates is the world’s richest person once again
    Next Article Study suggests objective reality does not exist

    Related Posts

    BT to turn street cabinets into EV charging points

    8 January 2024

    Former MTN boss Rob Shuter to step down at BT

    19 December 2022

    BT, Seacom sign ‘strategic alliance’ for enterprise services

    10 August 2022
    Company News

    Huawei Watch Fit 4 Series: smarter sensors, sharper design, stronger performance

    13 June 2025

    Change Logic and BankservAfrica set new benchmark with PayShap roll-out

    13 June 2025

    SAPHILA 2025 – transcending with purpose, connection and AI-powered vision

    13 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.